Qualtrics is being sold for $12.5 billion

The company, co-founded by the owner of the Utah Jazz, is again privatized.

Two months after announcing it would lay off nearly 5% of its global workforce, Qualtrics, a Utah enterprise software company, is being sold for $12.5 billion and will once again be a private company headquartered in Provo and Seattle, Washington , will be kept.

Qualtrics, which employs about 5,600 people, went public two years ago and raised $1.55 billion in its 2021 IPO. It was bought by SAP, a German multinational software company, in 2018.

Now, Silver Lake, a private equity firm based in Menlo Park, Calif., is working with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) on an all-cash transaction that will place Qualtrics at approximately $12.5 billion, according to a Qualtrics press release. dollar valued.

That’s $4.5 billion more than SAP paid to buy Qualtrics in November 2018.

According to the press release, Qualtrics shareholders will receive $18.15 per share. Upon closing of the transaction, Qualtrics common stock will no longer be listed on any public market.

Silver Lake will acquire any shares it doesn’t already own, including SAP’s majority stake, making Qualtrics “an independent, privately held company.” Silver Lake has more than $92 billion in combined assets across North America, Europe and Asia, generating more than $272 billion in revenue annually. Its companies employ around 681,000 people.

The cloud-based subscription software platform company was founded in 2002 by Ryan Smith (now owner of the Utah Jazz and co-owner of Real Salt Lake), Scott M. Smith, Jared Smith and Stuart Orgill.

“I am extremely excited about this step in our journey,” said Ryan Smith, Executive Chairman of Qualtric. “Silver Lake’s belief in our vision and their amazing track record of supporting founders and management teams speak for themselves. We look forward to cooperation.”

Qualtrics CEO Zig Serafin will continue to lead the company. Both Ryan Smith and Egon Durban, Silver Lake’s co-CEO, said the deal will enable Qualtrics to “create the next great enterprise software platform.

“We firmly believe in the amazing technology platform that Ryan, Zig and their phenomenal engineering and sales teams are building,” said Egon Durban, Co-CEO of Silver Lake, “and we look forward to supporting Qualtrics’ continued efficient growth at one multi-generational, highly profitable platform companies by enabling further investment in all aspects of the business.”

In its annual report for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2022, Qualtrics said it had more than 18,750 customers and its revenue grew significantly, although it reported a net loss for the past three years.

Qualtrics reported revenue of $1.458 billion in 2022; $1.075 billion in 2021; and $763.5 million in 2020, “representing year-over-year growth of 36% and 41%, respectively,” the report said.

Net loss was $1.061 billion in 2022; $1.059 billion in 2021; and $272.5 million in 2020, the report said.